


Nighttime in the Garden

by Blueyedgurl



Category: Rear Window (1954), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dark, Discussed but not depicted, F/M, HEA, Injured!Ben, Injury Recovery, Murder, Possible cannibalism but only if you really want it to be, Rear Window AU, Serialkiller!Rey, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:06:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29241789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueyedgurl/pseuds/Blueyedgurl
Summary: Ben is recovering from a severe injury.  Rey is his in-home nurse.  She actually lives in the building behind his and he can watch her come and go from her apartment.  What happens when the news reports on a missing man and he uncovers her secret?
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 19
Kudos: 77
Collections: To Find Your Kiss: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	Nighttime in the Garden

**Author's Note:**

  * For [QueenOfCarrotFlowers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfCarrotFlowers/gifts).



> An RFFA treat for someone who's always promoting the works of others and supports us in following our ideas no matter how wild and weird.

Ben had been laid up for months, two broken legs, a couple of surgeries, and now he could finally put weight on his legs to stand and walk, if only for brief moments. It had taken him quite a lot of string pulling to return home without going to a rehab facility, but he spared no expense, breaking into his trust fund to make sure he could afford appropriate in-home care. 

He had gone through several nurses, most of which didn’t last a week with his irritable mood and shifting tempers. But then she came, with her bright as the sun smiles, her intolerance for his bullshit, and just being genuinely unimpressed with his bursts of temper. He worked it out with her agency, so she was the only one that came in, she lived close by and he was willing to pay her overtime and bonuses. He was beyond lucky that she agreed.

Rey, his in-home nurse and personal savior, was incredibly helpful. He wasn’t sure where’d he’d be if she hadn’t come along. He admitted that when she started, he was resentful of her, just as he had been of his other nurses, but over time he had really grown to depend on her. She’d been able to help him get around his apartment when he was feeling listless, even pushed him grumbling in his wheelchair to the park to feed the birds. When he was feeling restless, she made sure to set everything up to be within reach and with a firm voice and even firmer hand, she had reminded him on multiple occasions that overdoing it would lead to more time being laid up. Or worse, his injuries not properly recovering.

It was convenient too that she lived in the building right behind his. Now that he was more mobile, she could leave for an hour or two and go home to rest. He found that he could also get himself over to his chair and watch her come and go from her apartment building. Sometimes, when her blinds were open, and he could watch her as she cooked dinner or watched TV. His existence felt less lonely to see that she was still so close, and he had to stop himself from having to return for unnecessary reasons.

He didn’t mean to be a creep, but so far, she didn’t seem to notice his new hobby. Honestly, it was for the best that she didn’t, especially the way his cheeks burned and his stomach clenched the other night when she had brought home a date. He told himself that’s what he got for looking, seeing her with someone else.

The morning after that Ben couldn’t help but sulk especially since she was quite chipper, even for her. She looked alert and well rested for someone who had stayed up later than him, doing... well he tried not to think too hard on it. 

He hated to admit it to himself, but he couldn’t avoid it with the jealous beast that pulsed in his chest, he realized that loved Rey. He wouldn’t go further to admit to himself that he was becoming obsessed with her. He told himself that noting the location and shape of each freckle and the way her eyes changed from brown to green depending on the lighting was just something that happened when you saw someone every day, especially as up close and personal she had been to him during his recovery.

He really enjoyed her in her green scrubs with the way they brought out her eyes, or with her hair pulled back, she could never seem to get all of it and one time he had even pushed away a stray tendril when she was bent over his lap checking on of the incisions from his last surgery. 

However, he was getting closer to not needing her at all now and he panicked at the prospect of losing her forever. But today he took comfort in the fact that she had thought of him, she had brought him over some sort of stew that she had cooked at home. 

Rey was a marvelous cook and was often bringing him cookies or a slice of cake. She cooked for him every day since he was injured. But today’s meal was rather exceptional, it felt different knowing that she had brought it as something to share and not part of her job. The meat was so savory and tender, but he couldn’t even tell if it was pork or beef. 

“Rey this is really good, what kind of meat is this?” He said, spooning around the hearty concoction.

She looked at him, her eyebrows raised.

“Wild hog.” She replied, before pulling out the tub of disinfectant wipes from under the sink.

“Really? Where did you find that?” He’d never seen anything like that at the store, even the fancy co-op he used to go to.

“Just some guy I know, he’s from the south, they run pretty wild down there from what I understand.” She said with a shrug. “He always brings me some when he comes to visit his mom.”

“I never would have guessed.” He said before enthusiastically biting into another spoonful. She gave him one of her bright smiles, one of the ones that made his heart stutter in his chest and his blood warm in his veins. 

The rest of the day went well, Ben was mindful to soak up Rey’s presence in his apartment. He wondered if he would be able to see her after he was done being her client but tried not to get his hopes up. 

That night, after Rey left, Ben sat in his window. He sat there watching as Rey fed her cat before grabbing what looked like a heavy bucket and heading outside. He watched curiously as she tended to the garden near the front of the building, pulling weed before she settled at her intended task. 

He watched raptly the whole time as she worked pouring what must have been fertilizer out of the bucket and into the hole before placing the shrub. She watered the plant and rinsed off everything she used before taking her remaining supplies back into the building.

Somedays he wondered where she found the energy, to take care of her patients (or him for the time being), tend to the garden and still have time to have some sort of social life. 

A couple nights later, after Rey had left for the night, he was watching the news. There was a report of a missing man, another of a small string of them from the area over the course of the last few years. 

Apparently, the man’s past led to suspicions of foul play. But when surveillance video showed his last whereabouts he knew exactly where the man had been. He’d been in Rey’s apartment. Ben had watched the man walk into Rey’s apartment, same flannel shirt, same stupid hat. Same petite and blurry brunette that had spent 80 hours a week in his apartment over the last few months. 

His stomach churned and his skin prickled with anxiety. 

Had it been self-defense? Had the man tried to hurt Rey? His old rage flared at the notion that someone would lay hands on her. 

He wouldn’t let her go to jail if that was the case, it was obviously better that the man was off the street and wasn’t able to hurt anyone else. He wouldn’t tell a soul if it meant that Rey would remain safe. 

The next morning, after a restless attempt at sleep, he had the news on when Rey came in. She glanced at the tv surprised, he never had it on this early. 

“TV on already, that’s unusual for you.”

“Yeah, it’s strange this man went missing.” Ben commented, pausing on the clip of the Man leaving the bar. Rey didn’t even bat an eye just went about her usual routine of taking care of dishes and garbage. 

“I know he’d been to your home Rey. The night he went missing.” Ben finally pushed out, nervous she would run and that he was in no condition to catch her. 

A slow smirk crept across her lips. 

“Do you now?” She didn’t look up from her task of wiping the counters. 

“I do.”

“You’ve been watching me Ben Solo?”

Ben gulped, caught. 

“Yes.” He admitted, they were both in this now. Both caught like rabbits in traps and he would rather be caught with her than without. 

“Do you know what that man’s done?” She said looking up at him as she pushed to coffee pot back against the wall. 

“Yes.”

“And that’s just what he’s been caught doing and charged with. He’s made knowing him and living in this town hell.” Rey said with a frown her brow furrowing in anger.

“Did he try to hurt you?”

Rey stopped what she was doing then, her face serious and she threw the disinfectant wipe in the garbage as she walked around the counter. 

His heart raced in the face of her full attention, unsure if she would wield her frustration at being caught at him. 

“What if I told you he didn’t?” She replied, her eyes weighing him, calculating his response before he could give it. 

He swallowed and he didn’t know if he should be terrified or excited. His cock twitched with interest and he did his best to ignore it.

“I’m just happy you’re safe and that he didn’t hurt you.” It was true, if everything that was said about the man, maybe the world would be better off. 

She relaxed and a kittenish smile crossed her face. 

“Do you want to know a secret Ben?” Her head was cocked to the side and her hips swayed a bit as she came closer to him in his chair.

He nodded slowly, enthralled by the enigma that was Rey. 

She bent over him in his Lazy Boy chair, her breath ghosting over the shell his ear, causing a shudder to roll down his spine. It was a heady mix of dangerous and intimate. 

“He wasn’t my first.” She whispered before crawling to rest on the arm of the chair, careful not to rest her weight on his still tender legs. 

His breath hitched at her omission as her hand came to cup his cheek, her thumb cresting over the apple of his cheek. 

“The first one was when I was 16, I had gone to some party in the woods and he was leading me to creek to skinny dip. When we got to the edge, I pushed him hard from behind and he hit his head in the fall. As he struggled to move, I pushed his head down into the water.” She smiled coyly and bit her lip. “Accidental drowning the coroner said. Boys will be boys the adults had said when they realized he was probably drunk. But that’s what they said when he assaulted half the girls on the cheer squad.” 

When she pulled back her eyes were wet, and her face was stony. Ben wrapped his arms around her to hold her close and try to comfort her, let her know that she was ok, that he accepted her. 

“Shhhh, Rey. It’ll be our little secret, nobody’s ever going to hurt you.” He told her, tucking her head under his chin, her thighs tucked into his chest as she sat on the arm of the chair. 

She sniffed and returned his hold. 

“I always knew you were different, Ben. I knew you’d understand.” She said softly as she toyed with the drawstring of his hoody. 

He brushed her hair back from her face and she pulled away so she could look at him.

“I won’t be able to be with you while you’re still a client of the agency.” She said, her cheeks pinking and her eyes darting away shyly as if she was afraid, she’d pushed too far.

“I figured. I’ve been waiting for this to be done so I could ask you out.” He admitted sheepishly, feeling his ears burn with the admission. 

She gave him one of her beaming smiles, her fingers coming up to ghost over the shell of his ear as she leaned in to kiss him. He groaned into her mouth and he knew that he’d do anything for this girl, anything to keep her safe.


End file.
